This ministry has our hearts. "SHARE THE SHOPPING AND DOUBLE THE JOY" Wow! Julianna has donated backpacks for our ladies releasing from jail and prison for over a decade! These backpacks are no ordinary backpacks they are made with such care, prayer and love!! Julianna and her caregiver Gloria make a whole day of going shopping. They have so much fun and joy as they pray and witness to those in the stores to those that God brings in their path. they share why they donate these backpacks. Julianna and Gloria's motto is: "Share the shopping and double the joy" We feel so blessed and honored by their hearts of giving! We know God has some very especial ladies that will be receiving these backpacks made with Christ's love!! He even knows their names. Serving God is so much fun! Look at the beautiful Bibles with bible covers!
0 Comments
A huge shout out to all of our donors who support our backpack ministry for our ladies releasing from prison and jail! You made this happen! because you gave Melissa is off the streets!!1 Meet Melissa who was just released from jail with absolutely nothing. We met up with her and gave her one of our backpacks full of hygiene items, A Bible and all kinds of fun girly stuff! She is now in safe Christian housing program and getting the help she needs to transition back into our community! Please be praying for Melissa she loves the lord and has a desire for a real change. Serving God is so much fun! Isaiah 61:7-8 "Instead of shame and dishonor, you shall have a double portion of prosperity and everlasting joy! For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and wrong. I will faithfully reward my people for their suffering and make an everlasting covenant with them." This article in the local news paper Is very prophetic! In my book Beyond Hope I wrote an article about a dream I had as a little girl to be a movie star and to be well known! So childlike and so fun! But, all my dreams were broken and shattered! I was dishonored and shamed with many mugshots in the local paper and I was very well known alright the law enforcement knew me well.. God said today: "For your shame I am giving you a double portion of honor" We don't seek notoriety or to be well known! If you knew me personally the last thing I want is to be in the public eye!! But, God makes good on His promises! The dream I had as a little girl is being fulfilled today! I am so overjoyed and thankful for God's Grace in my life!! You can purchase Beyond Hope on amazon! We also have books available in our office for a donation of $12.99 or more! Call the office for more information at: 541-500-1250 Hope and Future Ministries celebrating 15 years of serving incarcerated women and guiding them into real Freedom!! Matthew 25:35-36 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me. This Scripture was lived out these past two weeks. It is such an honor to be the hands and feet of Jesus! She thought she was just coming for a book and a back pack. But God had bigger plans for her life! We met Leanna in our weekly Bible study at the jail 2 months ago. Every week we hand out flyers at the jail that explain the services we provide: backpacks filled with toiletries and necessities, help with release planning, and resources in the local community. Leanna approached me after the jail service and asked if she could get one of our Bible study books, The 12 seeds. I replied, “When you get out of jail, call me and I will make sure you get a book.” Once she was released from jail, back out on the streets she went! A few days later Leanna called us and left a message on our answering machine. She asked for a back pack and she still wanted the book we had promised her. We were so very excited to get that call! I met with her and gave her a back pack and the book we had promised her. I then remembered she was 8 months pregnant and asked her where she was living. She said she was living on the streets. Oh, my heart! I asked her all the important questions: are you ready to get off the streets? Would you be willing to go into a housing program or a shelter? She said, “Yes, I need a safe place to be to have my baby in July!” We were able to provide temporary housing at our ministry home while we helped her apply for housing programs for pregnant moms. She had absolutely nothing. We took her to Walmart that evening and bought her some clothes. Leanna picked out a cute dress to wear to church. She was hungry and we fed her. And boy she was eating for two, so we needed extra food. We took her shopping and she bought more food. All the things she liked. I was so excited to take her to church. We planted seeds and we loved on her! The pastor’s messages seemed to be just for her! A few days later Leanna was accepted into the OnTrack Mom’s Program for pregnant women. We are so very thankful she's off the streets and in a safe place to prepare to have her baby boy the first week in July. Leanna said she will be naming her baby after he is born. Who knows, he could be the next Billy Graham or the next apostle Paul! God has such a wonderful plan for their lives and I am so grateful for the Divine encounter from the Lord. I believe with all my heart that God brought Leanna to us. When she left for her new housing, we joked and said, “You thought you were just coming for a book and a back pack but God had other plans for your life!” We prayed over Leanna and the baby. We are believing for a complete miracle in her life. This was Matthew 25 coming to life! We brought her in our home, we fed her, we clothed her and we loved on her and we went to see her in jail! We gave her the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And planted seeds of Hope! Please continue to pray for Leanna and her baby and that God would completely deliver her. In Jesus name, Amen. Happy New year! 2023 is the appointed year of the Lord! The promises, prophecies and dreams we have put on a shelf and we have been waiting for are being fulfilled!! This is the year of RE-birthing new dreams and they becoming reality! The year of rebranding! Habakkuk 2:3 "For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, it will not tarry." IT’S TIME TO DREAM AGAIN….. In Genesis 37:9 Joseph had two dreams, and the second was bigger than the first. His first dream was a field of sheaves; the second dream was a sky full of stars. The second dream was bigger than the first dream! Its time to dream anew dream!! Haggai 2:9 “The Glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former; says the lord of Hosts. “And I will give peace; says the lord.” Job 42:12 a “So the lord blessed job in the second half of his life even more than in the beginning!!” Job 42:10 and the lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed, the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before!! As you know I took a one-year Sabbatical, which was not an easy decision, but it was the best thing I ever did! The Sabbatical year is a time of dying to self-desires so the Lord can replace them with the new things He is desiring to do. The actual Sabbatical year of the Lord on the Hebrew calendar took place every 7 years when the farmers would not plant but instead let the ground rest. The land would come back the 8th year ready to produce a greater harvest! Also, the number 8 is the number of new beginnings. I spent much time in prayer seeking the Lord to get new direction for this ministry. I gave my soul and body a time to heal, rest and recharge. The Scripture says in John 12:24, “Truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” As we close the book on 2022, I have been reflecting on the past years of ministry. I’ve been reminded of all that God has done through Hope and a Future Ministries, in the lives of the women we have served in the prisons, jails and in our ministry home. Now we are getting excited about the future as we’re beginning to envision the next chapter God has for us—to expand our services to help more women walk in true freedom. I am so looking forward to this next season with great anticipation and excitement for all the new and fresh things God is going to do! During my Sabbatical year I was also able to write my life story, Beyond Hope. This has been a long-time dream of mine and this dream is becoming reality. WOW, dreams do come true! God doesn’t waste anything! I hope this book will be a key to unlock spiritual prison doors and set captives free. No matter how dark the situation appears, no one is Beyond Hope. My book will be published early in 2023 and available on Amazon. You can go to our website at: hopeandafutureministries.com for updates or to donate to our book fund to send books into prisons, jails and to those in need. The Freedom House has offered a Christian transition home for women releasing from prison and jail for over 8 years. We have seen many women receive true freedom. Many are now living successful lives in our community. I don’t have enough room to share all the stories of their lives that were touched and changed. Even better, seeds of hope continue to be planted by these women and their families. After much prayer over the past year, we were led to reopen the ministry home with a new focus. Rather than housing women, the ministry home will be a place where women can meet for bible studies, to support each other centered around God’s Word. This will be open to all women who have a desire to grow in their walk with the Lord and rise up to be whole again! With your help we’ll continue our outreach to women in prison and jail. We’ll continue to provide Bible studies and Bibles. Some of the ladies have absolutely no support and have burned bridges with their families. We’ll continue sending these women cards and notes often to let them know they haven’t been forgotten. As these women get ready to be released, we’ll continue to provide mentoring and guidance as they transition out of prison or jail back into our communities. Please continue to pray for us as we step out in the new things God has for us. We truly are better together! Sincerely, Founder, Rachelle Benthin Hope & A Future Ministries |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
April 2024
Categories |